Power of Love
by Selene Antilles
Summary: Bella and the Cullens miss their majestic white mansion and the tiny town of Forks, but can they really go back?


Isabella Cullen stood outside the family home, saying goodbye for the last time

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters. No copyright infringement intended.

A/N: Before anyone asks, I'm not planning a sequel for this. It just popped in my head and I had to get it out – I would write something more for it but I'm working on what is projected to be a very long Narnia story so this is all I had time for. But I hope you enjoy it!

Power of Love

Isabella Cullen stood outside the family home, saying goodbye for the last time. Her arms were folded and her jaw was set. As the rest of the family bustled at rather inhuman speeds back and forth to their numerous cars with cardboard boxes, her thoughts turned to their destination. Alaska seemed so very far away, a whole different world. There would be new people, a new home, all on top of her very new lifestyle. Bella feared it would be painfully similar to when she first moved to Forks.

Edward eyed her as he stood with the door to his Volvo open, one foot already inside. "Bella?" he called, "Bella, honey, let's go!"

She turned back towards him with something he couldn't quite place in her eyes. "I'm coming," she sighed, making her way to the passenger side door. Bella clambored in, narrowly missing the frayed hem of her pant leg with the slamming door. Edward continued to watch his bride out of the corner of his eye.

"Bella. What's the matter?" he asked softly, almost afraid of the answer.

Looking back over her shoulder at the quickly fading white mansion she so would have liked to call home, she said, "I'm just going to miss it."

"The house? We'll be back. Don't worry," he reassured her, patting her leg with one hand.

Bella glanced over at her husband, grateful he had his eyes on the road for once so he couldn't see the sadness creeping into hers.

--

45 Years Later

It was raining when the Cullens arrived in Forks, which was hardly a surprise. Bella was out of the car and on the porch before anyone else had stopped. A smile tugged at her lips as she ran her fingers over the peeling white paint of the railing. Edward stepped gracefully from the car and, smiling, followed his wife into the house.

The family spent the rest of the day unpacking. As night fell, Bella realized there was not a drop of shampoo in the house. "I'm going to the store. Anybody need anything?" Judging by the long list that was immediately pushed into her hands, that had been the wrong thing to say.

Attached to the grocery/drug store was a small coffee shop. Not having the need for caffeine, though she would admit to having snuck a cup now and then, Bella passed it by without a second glance. She pushed a cart through the store, gathering the numerous items her family had requested. Hairbrush, lightbulbs, socks, thread, green curtains, negligee, notebo-

_Negligee?!_ Bella sighed aloud. _Emmett_.

By the time she finally made it up to the counter, the store was almost closing. The clerk glared at her, glancing indiscreetly at the clock. Bella ignored him, looking over his shoulder at a row of books. Feeling eyes on her, she slowly turned toward the coffee shop to find an older man, maybe 60, 65, staring at her. He got up and very determinedly walked over to her.

"Excuse me. This might sound strange, but are you related to Bella Swan?" he asked.

Bella gulped and tripped over her words. "Uh… Yes! She was my mother!"

"Your mother? How old are you?" His brow knit in what she guessed was confusion.

"18." _Don't people have any manners these days? You never ask a woman her age, _she thought, a bit miffed.

"But Bella Swan died forty-five years ago."

Bella gulped again, realizing too late that her stories didn't match up. "Uh… Who are you, anyway?" She tried to distract him. Luckily, it worked. Well, sort of.

"Mike Newton. I knew your mother. Or at least I knew Bella," he answered. If she could have, Bella knew she would have felt all the blood drain from her face.

"Are you here to see your grandfather?"

"My wha- Charlie? He died five years ago." Bella flashed back to the day Alice had unexpectedly received a vision of Charlie's funeral. It hurt to know he'd thought her dead all those years.

"No, he didn't," Mike eyed her distrustfully before he continued, "Oh. He _was_ really sick for a while and the doctors thought he wasn't going to make it, but he pulled through. Chief Swan's always been tough."

Bella's eyes widened and she barely registered the cashier telling her twice what her bill was. She handed him a fifty, knowing it was too much, and told him to keep the change. Her brain was whirling at a hundred miles a minute and what was a fifty after all? "Thank you, Mr. Newton. You don't know what trouble you've just saved me."

With that she rushed from the store, her arms full of plastic bags. Dumping them in the backseat, she flipped out her cell phone. At the high, sweet voice on the other end, Bella let out something of a growl, "Alice! How could you not see this? And how could you see _that?_ And why did I have to run into him? And oh why me?"

"Woah, woah, woah. Slow down, sweetie. What's going on?" Alice soothed her.

"I just ran into Mike Newton. Dad's still alive." Bella's announcement was met with silence and then a slight shuffle.

"Bella, honey?" Esme came on the line.

"Yeah?" Bella knew her voice was weak and she probably sounded like a little girl.

"We'll leave in the morning, all right? I promise. We'll just spend one night and then we'll be gone. Back East or maybe somewhere in Europe. Somewhere far away."

"Okay." It was almost a whisper.

--

The next morning Mike wandered up Charlie Swan's driveway and pounded loudly on the front door. He could hear shuffling and finally the door opened to reveal the white-haired, robed ex-police chief. Charlie yawned.

"Hi Mike. What's up?"

"Um… Well, see, sir, I told Jessica about something that happened to me last night and she said I should come over right away and tell you too." Charlie picked up on the confused urgency in the younger man's voice and stepped aside.

"Come on in. What's on your mind?"

Mike quickly related the entire happening as Charlie poured himself a bowl of cereal. The Frosted Flakes would have ended up all over the counter if Mike hadn't shot a hand out to grab the box. Charlie held up a finger. "Wait right here."

He quickly made his way into the bedroom, with surprising agility Mike noted. He wasn't sure if Charlie thought he was insane or if he was just going to get his gun to shoot him with, but he certainly wasn't expecting what he heard. The phone beeped a few times before Charlie said, "Jake? Hey, just thought you might want to know: the Cullens are back. Yeah, Bella's with them. Mhmm. Talk to you later."

Charlie emerged from the bedroom fully dressed, his face tight and a bit weary. He patted Mike on the shoulder on his way out. "Thanks, Mike."

--

Rosalie maneuvered a box of photographs back out the front door, paying more attention to the adorable one of Emmett and her right on top than to what was going on in front of her. So when Charlie abruptly announced himself, she let out a small scream and nearly dropped the box.

"Hello Rosalie." Charlie nonchalantly stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Ch-Charlie! Um, uh," she stammered out.

"I'm looking for my daughter. You know, pretty brunette? I believe she married your asshole of a brother," he said conversationally.

Rosalie swallowed, biting her lip. She ducked her head and stepped aside to let him in. Alice, Carlisle and Esme all stopped stock still as he stepped inside the almost empty house. Jasper and Emmett bounded in from the garage, cheerful and laughing, but stopped when they saw Charlie.

"Where's Bella?" he demanded.

Edward came down the stairs, arms folded across his chest. Charlie glowered and lunged forward but Jasper jumped in front of him, catching him by the shirt collar.

"I'm right here, Dad," a quiet voice said from behind Edward. Jasper let go of him and stepped back beside his wife.

Bella pushed past Edward to stand in front of her father. "Oh Bells…" He crushed her to him in a tight hug, ignoring the subtle differences in her. Her amber eyes, her too-pale skin. Bella clung to him for a brief moment before pulling away completely.

"Why Bella? How could you do this to me? To your mother?" Hurt crossed both their faces and Jasper winced.

"I- I had to choose, Daddy. And I chose-"

"Edward? Your good-for-nothing, vampire boyfriend?" Charlie practically shouted.

"Yes, Dad. I chose love. Is that so horrible? To want to be with the man I _love_ for the rest of my life? See, if I hadn't done what I did, I would be looking like Edward's grandmother in a few years. Hi, it's nice to meet you. This is my grandson. No, of course we're not sleeping together. _That_ hurts," Bella yelled back.

"Well you know what else hurts? Losing your only daughter at 18. And then finding out she's not really dead, she just decided she'd rather live in Alaska with a bunch of-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence," Bella challenged. Charlie sighed.

Almost timidly, Carlisle piped up from the sidelines. "How did you know?"

"Jacob. He thought I ought to know. Since you obviously weren't going to tell me," Charlie replied, more to Bella than her pseudo-father. The room tensed at the mention of the Indian werewolf. "How could you do this Bells?" Charlie glanced around at the terrifyingly beautiful faces that surrounded him. "How could any of you do this?"

"I put it to a vote. I won. End of story."

"So you all voted on my daughter's mortality and didn't think to ask me what I thought?"

Rosalie cleared her throat. "It wasn't exactly unanimous, Charlie." Bella stared at her, looking distinctly betrayed, but Rosalie continued. "There were two that voted against it."

"Me," Edward contributed. At Charlie's stunned expression, he explained, "I love your daughter, sir. I didn't want to see her doomed to this. Obviously, I'm selfish."

"And me," Rosalie added, "I voted no, too."

"Why?"

"I was jealous. Bella could have had babies, grandbabies, gotten gray hair and not watched every single person she'd ever loved die. I'll never have those things." It had been years since Rosalie had spoken of her keen jealousy of Bella and Jasper was trying desperately to calm his brother's wife down. "However," Jasper wondered at how one word was able to settle Bella's nerves, "I've realized in the past years that we needed Bella. Desperately. I assume Jacob told you we have special powers?"

Rosalie waited for Charlie to nod to continue. "Beauty, compassion, strength. Some more outrageous than others: thoughts, emotions, premontion."

"What Jacob probably didn't know was that our powers stem from skills we were adept at in our human lives," Carlisle explained for her.

"In her human life, Bella taught our brother to love," Alice jumped in.

"Which we're grateful for. He's not as grouchy now that he's getti-" Edward punched Emmett in the stomach before he could finish.

Rosalie picked up the story again, ignoring her husband and brother. "Anyway. Bella taught Edward to love. So her power in this life is-"

"Love," Bella finished, "It's not fantastic like Alice or Jasper but it's useful."

"And we need it. Everybody does. But maybe us a little more than most," Esme finished.

Silence echoed through the house for an eternity. Finally, Charlie spoke up, trying to hide the tears in his voice, "So you'll be gone by tonight?"

One by one they nodded. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and punched a number in. "False alarm, Jake." As he hung up, Bella gingerly launched herself into his arms.

"I love you, Daddy," she whispered in his ear.

Charlie shook with laughter. "I know, Bells. I know."

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